Flames take heat over H1N1 shots

It's like running a red light, only to rear-end a slow-moving school bus full of orphans and hungry kittens.

For the Calgary Flames, a sneaky bit of queue-jumping has exploded into a public relations horror, leaving the team to explain why millionaire hockey players deserve what shivering children and seriously ill Albertans do not.

Had Alberta's supply of H1N1 vaccine been endless, the question of why the Flames felt entitled to skip chilly six-hour lineups to attend their own private flu clinic would remain, the question mark an open noose.

But to have news of this dastardly deed slip out when Alberta's clinics have been forced closed due to a vaccine shortage?

It makes the Flames look like a pack of selfish, over-entitled rubes, who stole life-saving serum from ordinary people who might desperately need it.

It wasn't just the players, either -- wives, children and even team officials received the jab at Friday's private clinic, supposedly sanctioned by someone with Alberta Health Services.

Even Ken King, team president and CEO, admits to having rolled up his sleeve for a privileged poke of vaccine, to show the players it was the right choice.

"I did have the shot -- I think it would have been hypocritical of me to have not done it there," said King.

There are excuses of course, from a team not used to looking like an elitist, self-serving organization too good to stand in flu lines with the dirty rabble.

When it comes to children and sickness, the Flames are more used to photo opportunities where players visit hospitals -- going from hero to heel is a whole new perspective.

King is adamant that the Flames organization believed there was plenty of vaccine to go around, even as they filed down to the private location where their personal supply of vaccine was waiting.

It's unfortunate no one in the Flames group reads either of Calgary's major daily newspapers, which shared front-page headlines that day, warning of the looming flu vaccine shortage.

"Shot Shortage Warning," was this paper's bold black-and-white headline on Friday, when the Flames and their families were enjoying VIP vaccine treatment.

Still, the Flames boss says no one knew of the impending clinic closures.

King admits the team was skipping past long lines at Calgary's five public clinics, but the team had no clue Albertans might soon be denied vital vaccination.

"We were pretty comfortable knowing we were not disrupting people -- the lineup notwithstanding -- but under no circumstances are we going to take a shot away from somebody," said King.

"If anybody said you can have this, but that's going to mean somebody else isn't going to, that's a whole different movie -- at the time, they were saying high-risk people should get it and all others who want it can, too.

"I can guarantee you, if it was decide if you get it or someone else, then we wouldn't have taken it."

And so, King is left to shoulder the blame for the biggest black-eye in team history, for a decision so daft it defies logic.

To his credit, King is trying to personally answer as many calls and complaints as possible.

"I know people are not very happy, and I'm hearing from them and I respect that and I empathize with them," said King.

"I think when you're accountable it matters to people -- if you try and duck or dodge or obfuscate it, that upsets people."

You can be certain the Flames will fix this image problem somehow, even if it means sending players to entertain the troops of miserable people still waiting for their shots, when the clinics reopen.

In the meantime, King and his cohorts will take it on the chin, with everyone from fans to the Edmonton Oilers taking swipes at the tarnished team.

"We haven't got the shots yet -- if and when it's available to us, we'll get it," said J.J. Hebert, director of communications with the Oilers.

"The majority of the public want to get the shot and we're no different, but certainly, we're not jumping in front of people who need to get it."

Ouch.

A stinging needle from their biggest rivals -- and the Flames couldn't deserve it more.